Feeder for comminuted material.



N20. 840,845. PATENTED JAN. 8, 1907.

G'. s. HEATH.

FEEDER FOR G'OMMINUTED MATERIAL.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.29. 1906.

I v v I 1 WTNES SEE CIR UNITED STATES PATENT oriuen.

GEORGESIDNEY' HEATH, or REVERE, MAssAcnUsn'rrs, ASSIGNOK T HUFFELECTROSTATIC SEPARATOR COMPANY, or nos'ron, MASSA- cHUsE'rTs, ACORPORATION OF MAINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 29, 1906. erial No. 298,fl().6.

To all whom zit may concern.- p Be it known that I, GEORGE SIDNEY HEATH,a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Revere, in the countyof Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented newand usefulImprovements in Feeders for Coinminuted Material, of which the followingis a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus and mechanisms for feeding anddistributing comminuted material. and it consists in the inn rovernentshereinbelow described.

' .n the drawings hereto annexed ,whichillustrate an embodiment of myinvention and improvement, Figure 1 is a longitudinal elevation, partlybroken away, of the feeding apparatus. F ig. 2 is a top plan view of thesame; and F ig. 3 is a cross-section of Fig. 2, taken at the line 3 3.

' Considerable difliculty has heretofore been encountered in theoperation of feeding comminuted material, especially when the saidmaterial consists of particles which differ from each other in size, inspecific gravity, in superficial character or texture, in hardness, h.groscopic capacity, andin other physical c aracteristics. Even a'mixtureof homo- ,gencous comminuted particles tends to. clog and form lunips,and in the case of mixtures of heterogeneous particles thereare'superadded the difficulties due to the automatic segregation ofdifferentiated components when all are subjected to a uniform application of force.

There is illustrated in the drawings an em bodiment of my invention andimprovement which has in practice proved effective to feed continuouslyand evenly a thin stream of material whether composed of heterogeneousor homogeneous particles. I provide a containing-hopper, as'A, intowhich the mass of comminuted material is fed in any desired quantity.The hopper A rests upon a base B, to which are secured adjustable platesby the construction. These plates at their adjacent dges are beveled, soas to form a slot or opening is, which is narrowest atth'e theenlargements it.

top. Preferably I make the plates It. thicker at their adjacent edges,as at it, and these plates and the slots formed by their approxi mationto each other extend substantially the entire length of the hopper A atthe bottom thereof.

In the ends of the hopper A apertures I are provided which admit thepassage of the ag1tator-bar (l. The bar C has secured to it,

or if it be of metal cast integral with it, a

number of floats D, these floats, as shown in Fig. 2, being preferablyset at an acute angle to the bar C. The angle which I have found inpractice .to serve best the purposes to which the feeder is applied isabout forty-five degrees. At one end of the feeder-bar C the same isarticulately jointed to a connectingrod E, the other end of thisconnecting-rod being secured, as by a crank-pin, to an agitating disk orwheel F, which is driven by a belt or by any other desired instrumentfor the transmission of power. The apertures I are preferably somewhatlarger in cross-section than the agitator-bar C, so that there is roomfor play of the latter laterally as well as provision'for it to movelongitudinally.

The lower edgcs'of the floats I) rest upon the adjacent inneredges ofthe plates K, and where, as shown in the specific illustration exhibitedin the drawings,thc plates Kare thickened at their inner adjacent edgesI perfer to make the iloats 1) sufficiently wide to extend entirelyacross the upper surfaces of By this means the formation by abrasionof achannel in which the floats will move only longitudinally is avoided andthe combined longitudinal and lateral movement thereof permanentlyassured.

Patented Jan. 8, 1907. V I

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: When'the wheel F or suchother agitatsharp ed go on each of these plates, so that the upper slideof the slot It shall always be transversely the smallest portion of thesaid slot, and thus the danger of particles of material wedginp in theslot is successiull obviated. W'hen also, as I prefer, the feeder-barand its floats are given a lateral as well as a longitudinal movement,the lower edges of the floats are also worn evenly, and the formation ofprotulwrances on the lower edges of y the floats immediately over theslot is 1s prevented. I consider it advisable to prevent the formationof such protuberances, because if they are so formed their effect willbe to wear laterally upon the edges of the plates K and form a narrowingtaper from the top downward, which would tend to be clogged withparticles of the material under treatment. tator-bar, with floats set atan acute angle thereto, stirs the eomrninutcd material e tl'cctively,giving it a side throw in either direc tion, as well as agitating itlongitudinally.

l/Vhen, as may be the case, the hopper A is of considerable capacity andvertical height and the materials contained therein are linelycomminnted and of considerable weight, the resistance to the movement olthe feeder-bar and its floats may increase so to tax unduly the drivinpmechanism. In order to relieve the feeder-bar from undue load, I providethe shed M, which is secured in the hopper immediately above thefeeder-bar. This shed preferably slopes in either direction toward thesides of the hopper and sustains the,

major part of the weight of the superincumbent mass of material,allowing only enough to flow downward between the edges of the shed andthe sides of the hopper to keep the feeder in full efl'ective operation.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a feeding apparatus, the combination of a hopper and feeder-bar,means to re eiprocate the feeder-bar longitudinally in the hopper,bottom plates with adjacent edges to form a longitudinal slot under thefeederl\'loreover, the preferred form of agi' bar, and floats on thefeeder-bar sliding upo the bottom plates.

2. In a feeding apparatus, the combination of a hopper and feeder-bar,means to reciprocate the feeder-bar longitudinally in the hopper, bottom)lates with adjacent edges to form a slot un er the feeder-bar, andfloats on the foeder-bar at an acute angle thereto and sliding upon thebottom plates.

3. In a feeding aparatus, the combination of a hopper, a l zzeder-bar,means to reciprocate the fe'edenbar longitudinally and laterall in thehopper, and bottom plates with a jacent edges to form a slot under thefeeder-bar.

4-. In a feeding a paratus, the combination 01 a hopper, a eed'er-bar,means to reciprocate the feeder-barlongitudinally in the hopper, bottomlates with adjacent edges to form a slot on er the feeder-bar, andfloats on the. feeder-bar at an acute angle thereto and sliding upon thebottom plates.

In a feeding a paratu's, the combination of a hopper, a tireder-bar,means to reciprocate the feeder-bar longitudinally, bear-v in for thefeeder-bar to slide in havinglateral clearance therefor, bottom platesin the" hopper with adjacent edges to form aslot, and floats on thefeeder-b'ar'at an acute angle.

thereto, sliding upon the bottom plates 6. In a feeding apparatus, thecombina" tion of a hopper, bottom latest-hereilnlatorally adjustable andthic 'rened at'theiratl jacent edges, on the top thereof, and beveled toiorma slot widening downward, a; fe eder'-; bar, means to reciprocatethe same longitude"- nally of the hopper, end bearings for thefeeder-bar providin lateral play therefor, and floats on the feedenb'arat'an acute angle thereto, resting on and spanning the thickenedportions of the bottom plates. l

7. In a feeding apparatus, the combination of a hopper, a feeder-bar,means to reciprocate the teeder b'ar longitudinally in the hopper,bottom plates with adjacent edges to form a slot under thefceder-bar,floats on the feeder'bar and a protective shed located in thehopperabove the feeder-bar.

Signed by me at Boston, ltlassachusetts,

this 20th day of J anuary, 1906.

GEORGE SIDNEY HEATH; Witnesses: l

Jasnrn T. BRENNAN,- GnAoE E. GIBBONS.

